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> Private individuals resident in Svalbard must purchase their alcohol quota in Svalbard and are not able to import tax-free alcohol from the mainland to Svalba
by qwerty456127 6y ago
> Private individuals resident in Svalbard must purchase their alcohol quota in Svalbard and are not able to import tax-free alcohol from the mainland to Svalbard.
I doubt local shops have particularly good assortment to choose from, do they?
- Quarrelsome 6y agosame goes for Iceland, only place you can buy alcohol outside of a bar is from a government shop that closes at 18:00.
- kzrdude 6y agoIceland has their own breweries and i think you can get very reasonable beer, for example domestic ones
- giantg2 6y agoI can get very reasonable beer where I live... I make my own beer, wine, and mead.
- Quarrelsome 6y agoye but you have to buy them from the government shop don't you? They don't sell alcohol in corner shops like the rest of the anglosphere.
- dahart 6y agoI guess that’s just for hard alcohol? Iceland has beer in tourist shops at least, if not grocery stores. But in tourist shops it’s expensive enough that you wouldn’t want to stock up there. I saw individual bottles for $10 (cheap beer) and $20 US (nice beer), for example, at the Gullfoss store.
- rkjaran 6y agoIceland does not have beer in tourist shops or grocery stores. Alcohol is only sold at the state run monopoly, bars and restaurants. What they sell at grocery stores and tourist shops is non alcoholic or with a very low (<2.25%) alcohol content, and they're mostly produced to circumvent the ban on alcohol advertising.
- kzrdude 6y agoIceland is not in the anglosphere :)
- thanatosmin 6y agoAFAIK Svalbard is weird in both immigration laws and a distinct tax structure from Norway. My guess is it has to do with tax avoidance schemes rather than consumption.
- Clewza313 6y agoSvalbard's legal status is deeply weird. It's administered by Norway, but not subject to a lot of Norwegian law, and people from all Svalbard Treaty signatories including the US can legally rock up and work and stay as long as they like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Treaty
- qwerty456127 6y agoThis is not weird, this is awesome. There should be more places like this.
- pcl 6y agoThroughout Norway, pretty much all sales of alcoholic beverages over 4.7% happens through state-run liquor stores (Vinmonopolet). Their selection is pretty great, but obviously imposes limits vs. a totally open import arrangement. And if a local store doesn't have something in stock, you can order it for later pickup, much like at a library with multiple branches. I don't know how that works in Svalbard, since it's so remote, but I wouldn't be surprised if they follow more or less the same procedures. Interestingly, since they are a single buyer for millions of people, the Vinmonopolet purchasers get some great deals. And, since it's state-owned and very regulated, there are rules about how much they can mark up a bottle vs. their purchase price. So, you see this weird phenomenon in which people from elsewhere in Europe will fly to Norway to buy a case of some vintage that turned out really well and as a result is super-expensive everywhere else.
- owenversteeg 6y agoInteresting! Do you have any examples of wines like that? I tried to search and found nothing.
- elygre 6y agohttps://www.aperitif.no/artikler/frankrike-er-kanskje-ikke-best-i-fotball-men-har-verdens-dyreste-viner,349229 https://www.aperitif.no/artikler/frankrike-er-kanskje-ikke-b... Is an article from 2015. It mentions Petrus 2012, at that point available for nok 9500 at vinmonopolet, while winesearcher.com had it at nok 22000.
- zwaps 6y agoInterestingly, almost all "plain" European beers have either 5% or 4,9% of alcohol (Pilsners, Lagers etc.) It seems this may also be a measure to boost local sales?
- nso 6y agoYou don't know a lot about Norwegian politics on this subject if you'd even suggest that. In short it's a way for the government to limit and control the damages associated with alcohol consumption. While this would probably rub the average american the wrong way, most norwegians, including myself, approve of the system. Other posters have given more detail but here is some reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinmonopolet#Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinmonopolet#Foundation https://www.vinmonopolet.no/social-responsibility https://www.vinmonopolet.no/social-responsibility
- Kiro 6y agoIn Sweden the monopoly shops have a really good assortment since they have no profit interest and can afford to provide shelf space for less popular beverages.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 6y agoFor the same reason they also are one of the better places in the EU to buy rare and expensive items (particularly wine due to lower taxes, but liquor as well) because they have country-wide buying power and the markup that the monopoly takes is a flat rate mandated by law. Example: https://www.thelocal.se/20181012/systembolaget-sells-rare-whisky-to-lucky-shoppers-at-bargain-price/ https://www.thelocal.se/20181012/systembolaget-sells-rare-wh...
- Broken_Hippo 6y agoAbout the selection in the state shops: It is better than what I could get in Indiana (US). If the local places don't stock it, they'll order it for you, and it is really, really easy. I'm gonna guess it takes longer to order to Svalbard, but it probably isn't too bad either.